CSFES, the voluntary organization that protects the interests of the foreign exchange students in the USA, has raised alarm on a number of issues.
Ms. Danielle J. Grijalva, the Director of CSFES (Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students), has brought up the problems of a number of the foreign exchange students and the apathetic way the State Department has been ignoring her pleas for intervention.
In order to protect the privacy of the school students, we will just mention the nature of the problems without giving any details:
· Rape by host parent
· Sexual harassment by host parent
· Placement in a religious school without prior consent of the student or their parents
· Placement in a household with squalid conditions (filthy, rat infested, etc)
· Confiscation of the cell phone of the student to prevent them from contacting their parents or anyone else
· Intimidation of the student by threatening them including the threat of physical violence
· Not providing the student with adequate food
· Making the student to pay for their food even though ‘three meals a day’ are covered in the fees they paid in advance
· Threatening the student to deport them if they make complaint about their ill treatment and cut their stay short without refunding the unspent fees
· Actual deportation of students if they make complaint about their ill treatment without any refunds
The number of complaints is so high that it can be described as a chronic problem with the entire system of foreign exchange students.
The records show that the State Department, that is supposed to be the ultimate protector of the foreign exchange students (and the reputation of the USA), mostly ignores the complaints it receives.
The parents of the foreign exchange student, therefore, are advised to find and confirm the minutest details of the stay and study of their child during their year of study in the USA. They are also advised to establish contact with their embassy and/or consulate in the USA before the departure of their child under the foreign exchange study programme.
Contact details for CSFES:
Committee for Safety of Foreign Exchange Students
660 Joshua Tree Street, Imperial, CA 92251
760-583-9593
dgrijalva@csfes.org
www.CSFES.org /// nCa, 16 September 2024